In Canada, the Cullen Commission is almost done a two-year probe of money laundering and corruption in British Columbia’s casinos. Most of the violations occurred about 10 years ago at casinos in the Vancouver area.
The cast of characters included international mob organizations, Colombian and Mexican cartels, Italian gangs, outlaw bikers, Chinese triads and organized crime from the Middle East.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) described Vancouver as “a hub for the importation of illegal and dangerous substances including fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.”
During the period, investigators from the province’s Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, RCMP and the BC Lottery Corp. warned officials to put a halt to large bags and suitcases filled with stacks of $20 bills entering casinos—most of them, one way or another, originating in the Peoples Republic of China, from rich citizens trying to escape the prying eyes of their government.
The commission, appointed by the provincial government and led by B.C. Chief Justice Austin Cullen has heard testimony of former public officials and law enforcement who said their warnings of Niagara-like flows of hundreds of millions of dollars of dirty money were ignored and even led to their dismissals. In total, more than 200 testimonies were heard.
Among the testimonies were former Premier Christy Clark, police officials, gaming officials and cabinet ministers. The last three days of testimony began October 15. A final report and recommendations will be published before the end of the year.
Attorneys for the provincial and Canadian federal government argue that the fight against money laundering requires more cooperation between regulatory agencies and police agencies.
The RCMP contends it warned the B.C. Lottery Corp. of mob infiltration of Vancouver casinos. In 2011 it produced a probe that asserted, “[a]t the casino level, a direction has to be taken to decrease their ‘acceptance’ of large and suspicious cash transactions,” as that would “most definitely hinder the movement of dirty money through the casinos and will tie the hands of loan sharks.”
It concluded, “Simply put, there is a significant money laundering problem identified within casinos, as they provide the opportunity for the criminal element to introduce large bulk cash, believed to be derived from illicit activity, into the financial system.”
Jacqueline Hughes, attorney for the B.C. government, asserted that the gaming regulator and the B.C. Lottery Corp., which operates the casinos, held widely divergent views on illegal cash transactions at casinos during the 10-year period. That has improved, however, she said.
Federal attorney BJ Wray said that at least public awareness of the problem has been elevated by the long series of testimonies.
Attorneys for B.C.’s largest gaming companies for their part claim to have complied with provincial regulations. They include Great Canadian Casino Company and Gateway Casinos and Entertainment.
Great Canadian attorney Mark Skywarok told Cullen that the company went beyond what was required to—even to installing a surveillance system that covered the parking lot of the River Rock casino. Videos produced by that system help provide evidence of suspicious money laundering activities, he said.
Gateway Casinos attorney David Gruber said it’s a myth that casinos make a lot of money on large cash transactions because they’re normally spent at high limit tables, which are not particularly profitable.
